Continuous Motion Packaging Machine With Rotating Flights

ABSTRACT

A packaging machine for placing articles into a carton includes rotating flight assemblies that receive a carton or carton blank, and rotate the carton blank and carton with articles while the flight assemblies move downstream. The flight assemblies each include two fixed segments and one segment that includes a block and associated bracket that rotate as the flight assembly is pulled through the machine by a conveying system. A method includes carton blanks being fed by a carton feeder onto the flight assemblies. Articles are formed into an article group, which is then placed onto a carton blank. As the blank and article group move in a downstream direction, the side panels of the carton blank are wrapped around the article group and the carton and article group are rotated to assist in closing the carton end flaps.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/752,085, filed Jun. 26, 2015, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/998,453, filed Jun. 27, 2014.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The disclosures of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/752,085, whichwas filed on Jun. 26, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/998,453, which was filed on Jun. 27, 2014, are hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes as if presented herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Continuous motion packaging machines for placing articles into cartonsare well known, and include numerous features, for example, componentsto sort and accumulate articles, such as beverage containers, and toplace the articles into various types of cartons. Typical such machinesinclude a main conveyor having spaced lugs or flights to move an articlegroup or a carton, or both, from an intake end to a discharge end, alonga path of travel. Other machines place a preformed group of articlesonto a carton blank, which is then folded around the group. Thearticulating or rotating flights described herein are shown incorporatedinto a packaging machine adapted to wrap an article group with apaperboard carton blank, to form a fully wrapped, fully enclosed andsealed carton containing the article group. Some of these wrap-typecartons are referred to as “sleeve” cartons, some are wrapped around thebottle group from above the group, while still others place the bottlegroup onto a carton blank, and then wrap the blank over and around thegroup. If the carton is fully enclosed, the machine includes a rotatingtucker or a static tucker plate or bar, to move the previously glued endflaps to the carton. Other wrap-type cartons either fully enclosed orpartially enclosed can be formed with these machines.

A principal feature of known packaging machines is that they aredesigned to run continuously when packaging articles. All of the mainfunctions of the machine perform their respective functions asconcurrently as possible, so that the output of the machine is at anoptimum capacity. These include inputting the articles, such as bottles,cans, juice or milk boxes, etc., forming the desired article group,feeding a carton blank or partially formed carton sleeve onto aconveyor, and placing the article group within the sleeve or upon theflat blank then wrapping the blank up and around the group, or wrappingthe blank around the bottom group from above. In machines that wrap aflat blank around a formed article group that rests upon the cartonblank, the process includes folding the main panels of the blank aroundthe group, which are sealed together, typically with glue, and thensealing the minor end flaps, which, up to this point, are open. Theseminor flaps typically also are glued, entirely sealing the carton.Finally the filled and fully sealed carton is discharged at thedownstream end of the packaging machine. In some known machines thatclose the carton end flaps to form a fully enclosed carton, a mechanismexists to rotate the partially enclosed carton sleeve so that the endflaps encounter a rotary tucker wheel or a static tucker bar or plate.Sometimes this is accomplished by a separate mechanism that engages thecarton from above, or the carton can be transferred to a separateconveyor that is adapted to rotate the carton to engage the tucker.

Although the present invention can be adapted to be utilized withvarious types of cartons, including basket cartons, where rotation ofthe carton along the main conveyor is necessary, for the purposes ofillustration the rotating flight assembly of the present invention isused in a continuous motion packaging machine that places articles intoa wrap-type carton blank, and then wraps the blank up and around thearticle group. The partially formed cartons or unformed (flat) cartonblanks are sequentially fed by a carton feeder, also well known, ontoeach of the sequential, spaced flight assemblies that are pulled along adownstream path by a flight conveyor. While some wrap-type cartons arepartially formed by pre-gluing two side panels and forming a sleeveprior to placement of the sleeve onto the conveyor by a carton feeder,the present machine depicts inputting flat paperboard carton blanks by acarton feeder (not shown) onto each flight assembly. Whether the machineaccepts partially formed sleeves or flat carton blanks onto the mainconveyor, additional components are included at the proper locationalong the flight conveyor to place glue onto selected locations of thecarton end flaps, and then to move the carton end flaps into a closedposition. These gluing and closure components also are well known. Asreferenced above, these closure components, for example, can be rotatingwheels or tuckers, or static bars and plates, sometimes referred to as“plows,” that fold the carton panels and/or flaps by engaging them andpushing them into a closed position as they are moved downstream by themain conveyor. Sometimes compression belts also are used to press on theflaps and panels to ensure proper glue contact or to convey the articlesthat leave the main conveyor.

In known machines where it is necessary to turn or rotate the carton asit is being formed around the article group or after it contains thearticle group in order to properly position the flaps for closure, aseparate conveyor/flight mechanism or other means is used to rotate thepartially formed carton. This rotation assists in moving the remaining,unfolded flaps into a closed position by the separate flight mechanismand closure elements. Other rotating mechanisms are known in packagingmachines. Such separate turning devices can have separate conveyors thatmust be timed specifically with the main conveyor. Otherwise jammingcould result in a machine shutdown, with loss of efficiency andproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a packaging machine that utilizes a rotatingflight assembly, preferably along its main conveyor. The invention alsois the rotating flight assembly itself and a method of packaging articlegroups into a carton by rotating the article group and the carton with arotating flight assembly that is underneath the carton. The inventionincludes a conveyor having a surface plate or bedplate, defining a camtrack, and spaced flight assemblies riding on the surface plate andadjacent surfaces. The flight assemblies are pulled downstream from atail gear along the cam track and bedplate toward a head gear byparallel chains connected to each end of the flight assembly and whichrun along opposing sides of the bedplate. Along this path of travel aflat carton blank, preferably made of paperboard, is placed upon eachsequential, spaced flight assembly. A preformed article group then isplaced on the carton blank, directly above the flight assembly by knownarticle placement devices, and the main carton panels are glued andclosed using any desirable folding element, such as a static plow or baror a rotating tucker wheel. As the flight assemblies continue to bepulled along by the chain conveyor, each assembly, one at a time, isrotated ninety degrees at a specific location on the bedplate, whichpositions the ends or side walls of the partially formed carton to beplaced for closure. Similarly, as the now rotated carton moves furtherdownstream, glue is applied to the side flaps and then additionalclosure elements, such as static plows, bars or tuckers, including forexample rotating wheels, press the flaps closed against other end flapsor against the main panels. After the carton is fully enclosed, thecarton is moved off of the closure portion of the packaging machine, andthe rotated flight assembly drops off the surface plate by turningaround the head gear assembly. Side compression belts, for example,assume movement of the now fully filled and closed carton off of theconveyor and onto a carton collection area. The sequential flightassemblies are moved under the surface plate, toward the tail gearassembly, where the process is repeated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a continuous motionpackaging machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective bottom view of the packaging machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the conveyor chains, flight assembly andbedplate of the packaging machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the packaging machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is another perspective view of the packaging machine of FIG. 1,showing an enlarged view of the cam track and flight assemblies.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bedplate and cam track of thepresent invention, showing an enlarged view of the transition ramps.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the packaging machine ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 8 shows two isolated views of the flight assembly of the presentinvention, with the middle support plate in different positions.

FIGS. 9A-9E show five isolated views of the flight assembly of thepresent invention, with the middle support plate in different positions.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a single flight assembly of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the single flight assembly shown in FIG.10.

FIG. 12 is a bottom, exploded view of the single flight assembly shownin FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 shows two isolated views of the flight assembly of the presentinvention, with the middle support plate in angled and in flatpositions, respectively.

FIG. 14. is a plan view of a portion of the bedplate of the packagingmachine of FIG. 1, including the cam track and two flight assemblies.

FIG. 15 shows the packaging machine of FIG. 1, with a carton blank andcarton in stages of assembly, positioned over respective flightassemblies of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an isolated view of the carton blank and carton in stages ofassembly, positioned over respective flight assemblies of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is an isolated view of the carton blank and carton in stages ofassembly, positioned on top of an contacting respective flightassemblies of the present invention.

FIGS. 18A-18F are six perspective views of a carton with its end flapsbeing closed by a static tucker of the packaging machine of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of a flight assembly of the presentinvention moving around the tail gear assembly of the packaging machineof FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a portion of the main conveyor of a packaging machine 10having a frame 9 that supports a surface plate 11 and rotating flightassemblies 12 of the present invention. The well known components ofsuch continuous motion packaging machines, such as a carton feeder,article grouping and infeed assembly and static or rotating tuckers arenot shown. Each of these components is well known, and various differenttypes of such components can be used to accomplish carton feeding,article feeding and panel or flap closure. The packaging machine 10includes a head gear assembly 15 and a tail gear assembly 16 that pullparallel chains 17A and 17B in the direction of the head gear assembly.These parallel chains form a chain conveyor 18.

The packaging machine 10 includes rotating flight assemblies 12, spacedalong the chain conveyor 18. These flight assemblies 12 each are adaptedto support a flat carton blank B (FIG. 17) and move the blank towardhead gear assembly 15 in the downstream direction indicated by arrow A,of the packaging machine. The flight assemblies are spaced from oneanother at a distance that will allow for the timing of the variousfunctions, such as carton blank placement, article group loading ontothe carton blank, and panel folding around the article group, as is wellknown. The articles can be various types of articles, such as beveragebottles, cans, paperboard or plastic beverage containers or any type ofsimilar article. Other spacing and flight speeds can be utilizeddepending upon well-known machine operation parameters. Each flightassembly 12 is pulled in the downstream direction of arrow A, aroundhead gear assembly 15 and underneath surface plate 11, and back towardthe tail gear assembly 16, as is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The respectiveflight assemblies 12 then move around tail gear assembly 16 (FIG. 19)and once again begin travel across plate 11 in the downstream directionof arrow A. In FIG. 19, an article group G is being fed in thedownstream direction of arrow A. A carton blank B also is being fed inthe downstream direction by any suitable, well known carton blankfeeders (not shown). Tail gear assembly 16 is rotating in the directionof arrow A-2, and a flight assembly 12 is shown in its position as it ispulled by chain conveyor 18 over tail gear assembly 16.

The surface plate 11 defines a cam track 25, FIGS. 1-4. The cam track 25is defined left of the center line CL of plate 11 (FIGS. 3-4) beginningadjacent the tail gear 16, then extends in a straight path towards headgear assembly 15. As will be discussed herein, at the point where aportion of the flight assembly 12 rotates ninety degrees, the cam tracksmoothly tapers at taper section 11C across the centerline CL and thenalong the right side of line CL toward the head gear assembly 15. Thiscauses the middle section of flight assembly 12 to rotatecounterclockwise, as appearing from a plan view with the head gearassembly 15 to the left as shown in the view of FIG. 4, where the headgear assembly 15 is to the left and the tail gear assembly 16 is to theright. FIG. 7 shows in plan view a portion of the packaging machine 10with the upstream portion, that is closest to the tail gear assembly 16to the left and the downstream portion, that is closest to the head gearassembly 15 to the right. Therefore the chain conveyor 18 moves theflight assemblies 12 in the direction of arrow A, which is thedownstream direction toward head gear assembly 15.

Each flight assembly is identical, and includes three support plates(FIG. 8). Leading support plate 26 and trailing support plate 27 arefixed at their opposite ends to each chain 17A and 17B, respectively, soas not to rotate, but only move along the support surface or bedplate 11in the direction of arrow A. The middle support plate 28 having centralblock 28A, however, is designed to rotate ninety degrees in thecounterclockwise direction at a selection position while continuouslymoving in the downstream direction toward head gear assembly 15, asviewed from above, for example, FIGS. 1,7 and 8.

The leading and trailing support plates are in the form of elongate barspreferably made of plastic, nylon or other synthetic material. Anysuitable, lightweight and durable material, however, can be used. Thetrailing support plate includes a carton registration lug 30 (FIG. 8)having a carton engaging bar 31 adapted to engage a designed cutoutportion of a carton C, when placed upon the flight assembly (FIG. 17).This engagement assists the flight assembly in pushing the carton C inthe downstream direction while retaining the carton on the flightassembly 12. The registration lug also includes a pin 32 that registersin a slot (not shown) running the length of the conveyor so that whenthe lug moves around the trailing gear assembly 16 (FIG. 19), theregistration lug ultimately is moved into its raised position as shownin FIG. 8.

Middle support plate 28 is designed to articulate or rotate about acentral, vertical axis in order to turn the carton resting on the flightassembly. Support plate 28 (FIG. 10) includes a central block or section28A that rotates horizontally, and side brackets 37 and 38. Brackets 37and 38 are connected to the opposing ends of central block 28A asdiscussed hereinafter, so as to fold or pivot upward and downward in alimited path of travel. The brackets 37 and 38 are formed in a U-shape,each opening inwardly toward block 28A, and include upstanding cartonfolding arms 75 and 76, respectively. Brackets 37 and 38 also includelegs 37A, 37B, 38A and 38B each carry fixed pins 70 that face inwardly.Each bracket 37 and 38 includes a fixed cam rod or lug 40A and 40B,respectively, as shown in FIG. 10. The lugs each have spherical distalends 41A and 41B that extend downwardly as the middle support plate 28rides across or above the flat bedplate 11, in the orientation shown inFIG. 10. A support bar 45 supports block 28A.

Bar 45 is elongate and attached at each end to respective chains 17A and17B by pins (not shown) or other suitable means at tapered end portions45A and 45B, to move block 28A along bedplate 11 in the direction ofarrow A with flights 12, and its plates 26-28. The support block 28A isnot itself attached to a chain, but is allowed to pivot or rotate aboutcentral axis along with brackets 37 and 38.

Block 28A of middle plate 28 (FIG. 11) defines laterally extending holes50A, 50B, 50C and 50D that each receive a pin 70 from arms 37A-37D.Block 28A also defines an elongate, central, laterally extending cutoutportion 51. A horizontal, central hole or open channel 54 extendsthrough the center of block 28A at the center of cutout portion 51 asshown in FIG. 11. Block 28A also defines lateral channels 55A, 55B, 55Cand 55D which receive pins 56A, 56B, 56C and 56D that extend inwardlyfrom legs 37A, 37B, 38A and 38B, as shown in FIG. 11. Channels 50A-50Dare larger, relative to the diameter of pins 70, than are channels55A-55D are to pins 56A-56D, to allow for the limited pivoting movementof brackets 37 and 38. Block 28A is supported by cross bar 45 (FIG. 11),which is adapted to connect at either end to the respective chains 17Aand 17B to move therewith. Cross bar 45 does not rotate, but supportsblock 28A and brackets 37 and 38 for rotation. An upstanding collar 61extends upwardly through cross bar 45, and is adapted to carry a rod 62.Rod 62 can rotate within collar 61. The upper end of rod 62 is formedwith an elongate horizontal section 63, which is sized and shaped toreceive cutout portion 51 as shown in FIG. 11. A partially explodedbottom plan view of the flight assembly 12 is shown in FIG. 12. Thebottom end of rod 62 is connected to a cam arm 65, which supports around cam follower 66.

FIG. 13 shows a flight assembly 12 in two different orientations ofplate 28 relative to the orientations of plates 26 and 27. In the rightside drawing of a flight assembly, the plates are in the upward, or flatorientation with middle plate 28 normal in orientation to both plates 26and 27. In the left side drawing, the brackets 37 and 38 of middle plate28 are in the downward or angled orientation, which depicts the limitedpivoting the brackets. FIG. 15 shows multiple cam assemblies in fourorientations along the surface plate 11. Above each assembly 12 is acarton C in the form that the carton would be if it were lying upon therespective flight assembly 12 directly below it as the carton is movedin the direction of arrow A. As shown in FIG. 15, the flight assembly of12A is at the straight, left side portion of cam track 25. At thisposition, the flat carton blank is placed upon flight assembly 12A.Although not shown in FIG. 15 or 17, at this position an article groupis placed upon the flat carton blank C directly above the flightassembly 12. In this position, brackets 37 and 38 of plate 28 are angleddownwardly. As the carton C is placed at this position upon the flightassembly 12A, the engaging bars 31 engages slots 77 in the carton so asto push the carton downstream. At position of assembly 12B, the brackets37 and 38 are moved upwardly by the action of lugs 40A and 40B uponplate 11, as described hereinafter, causing the upstanding arms or edges75 and 76 to move vertically to partially close the carton around thearticle group.

As the flight assembly reaches the position of assembly 12C, the camtrack has smoothly transitioned across centerline CL to the right handside of plate 11 and a static plow, well known in the art, has moved thetop carton panel to close around the bottle group G. At this position,however, the end flaps at each end of carton C remain open. At theposition 11C (FIG. 3) where cam track 25 smoothly curves from left toright, cam follower 66 in track 25 moves cam arm 65, which in turnrotates rod or pin 62 in the counterclockwise direction. This rotationof rod 62 turns block 28A and brackets 37 and 38 of support plate 28ninety degrees in the same direction, so that the ends of the carton,and end flaps, are positioned toward the sides of the conveyor, ornormal to centerline CL. Support pads 60A and 60B (FIG. 7) on thesupport bar 45 hold the lugs 40A and 40B in an upward position while theblock 28A and brackets 37 and 38 are rotating, so that lugs 40A and 40Bdo not fall into the cam track 25 but are held above it as they passover cam track 25. Between the position of assembly 12C and assembly12D, static tuckers and/or rotating wheels, well known in the art, movethe minor carton flaps to a closed position after glue is applied totheir respective inner surfaces. At least one rotating tucker wheel isfound preferable in closing one end of the carton. Therefore at position12D the carton is fully closed and ready to exit the packaging machine.FIGS. 18A-18F show the carton C being folded in a packaging machine bystatic tuckers, and rotated ninety degrees so that the end or minorflaps can be glued and folded by a static tucker and a rotating wheeltucker (not shown) as described above. FIGS. 9A-9D show the flightassemblies 12 in four different orientation or positions, while FIGS.15-17 show the carton blank B and carton C, respectively, over or uponthe associated flight assembly in each of these four positions.

In FIG. 18A a carton blank B supports an article group G. In FIG. 18Bthe carton blank B is being folded up and around the article group G bystatic plows P. In FIG. 18C the folded carton C is being rotated tocontact plow P1. FIGS. 18D and 18E show the carton in the position ofFIG. 18C from different views. FIG. 18F shows the carton C fully rotatedand moving under plow P2 in the direction of arrow A. An overhead pusherplate (not shown) can also be used to keep the carton square after it isrotated and being moved downstream. Such pusher plates also are wellknown. The end flaps are then closed and sealed, as described above, toform a fully enclosed carton of articles.

After the carton is fully sealed around the article group, the sealedcarton C slides off the downstream end of the conveyor at head gearassembly 15. As this happens, the brackets 37 and 38 fall downwardly, sothat arms 75 and 76 of the flight assembly 12 do not contact the cartonand damage it. The pins 70 extending into the four holes 50A-50D of thecentral block 28A prevent the brackets 37 and 38 from falling downwardlybeyond the diameter of the respective holes 50A-50D. Rather than usingthe pin and hole arrangement to restrict movement of the brackets 37 and38 as they are pulled around the head gear assembly 15 and tail gearassembly 16, a spring arrangement can be used to maintain the desiredmovement of the brackets.

The movement of a flight assembly 12 over the bedplate 11, and acrossthe transition section 11C of the cam track 25 is shown, for example, inFIGS. 3,5,6 and 14. FIG. 3 shows the upstream end 11D of bedplate 11 atthe left side of FIG. 3. Two ramps, 11A and 11B, provide for smooth andsimultaneous entry of lugs 40A and 40B onto bedplate 11. As can be seen,ramp 11A is longer than ramp 11B, though both ramps start at the end 11Dof bedplate 11 at the same position. This difference in the length oframps 11A and 11B is the same as the distance D between the midpoints oflugs 40A and 40B (FIG. 11). This difference in the lengths of ramps 11Aand 11B allows the lugs to enter upon bedplate 11 simultaneously. Lug40A transitions up ramp 11A and lug 40B transitions up ramp 11B. At thesmoothly tapered section 11C of cam track 25, the lug 11A and 11B moveover cam track 25, but are held above track 25 by support pads 60A and60B, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, lug 40A moves along path D1 whilelug 40B moves along path D2. This movement of the lugs along these pathscauses the support block 28A and brackets 37 and 38 to rotate in acounterclockwise direction, as described above. FIG. 3 also shows aflight assembly 12 with the block 28A and brackets 37 and 38 positionedas they are when cam 66 is in the middle of smooth transition section11C. FIG. 6 also shows bedplate 11 that defines ramps 11A and 11B at itsupstream end. At the downstream end 11E of bedplate 11 is a champheredsurface 80 that allows lugs 40A and 40B to smoothly transition off ofbedplate 11. Since the champhered surface is uniform in length alongbedplate 11, the lugs 40A and 40B will drop off of bedplate 11 atdifferent times, which is acceptable. Otherwise, the champhered surface80 could be replaced with two ramps for the lugs to move off thebedplate 11. FIG. 14 shows a packaging machine 10 section with towflight assemblies in different orientations, and paths D1 and D2, alsoas shown in FIG. 3, for lugs 40A and 40B.

While the present invention is described herein in detail in relation tospecific aspects and embodiments, it is to be understood that thisdetailed description is only illustrative and exemplary of the presentinvention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full andenabling disclosure of the present invention and to set forth the bestmode of practicing the invention known to the inventors at the time theinvention was made. The detailed description set forth herein isillustrative only and is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limitthe present invention or otherwise to exclude any such otherembodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalentarrangements of the present invention. All directional references (e.g.,upper, lower, upward, downward, left, right, leftward, rightward, top,bottom, above, below, vertical, horizontal, clockwise, andcounterclockwise) are used only for identification purposes to aid thereader's understanding of the various embodiments of the presentinvention, and do not create limitations, particularly as to theposition, orientation, or use of the invention unless specifically setforth in the claims. Joinder references (e.g., joined, attached,coupled, connected, and the like) are to be construed broadly and mayinclude intermediate members between a connection of elements andrelative movement between elements. As such, joinder references do notnecessarily imply that two elements are connected directly and in fixedrelation to each other. Further, various elements discussed withreference to the various embodiments may be interchanged to createentirely new embodiments coming within the scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of packaging an article group in acarton, the method comprises: obtaining a packaging machine comprising aconveyor, a bedplate positioned adjacent the conveyor, and a flightassembly at least partially supported on the bedplate, the bedplatedefining a cam track, the flight assembly includes a first supportplate, a second support plate downstream from the first support plate,and a third support plate positioned between the first support plate andthe second support plate, the third support plate includes a camfollower; operating the conveyor to move the flight assembly in thedownstream direction, as the flight assembly moves in the downstreamdirection, engaging the cam follower in the cam track to rotate thethird support plate relative to the first support plate and the secondsupport plate.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cam track includesa straight section and a diverging section that diverges from thestraight section, during the rotation of the third support plate, thecam follower travels through the diverging section.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the straight section is substantially parallel to acenterline of the bedplate, and the diverging section is substantiallyoblique to the centerline.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein thestraight section is a first straight section, the cam track comprises asecond straight section, and the diverging section extends between thefirst straight section and the second straight section.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the bedplate includes a ramp section.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising placing a carton blank on the flightassembly, prior to moving the flight assembly in the downstreamdirection.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising placing anarticle group on the carton blank.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein thethird support plate includes two outer portions that are operativelyconnected to a middle portion, when the carton blank is placed on theflight assembly the two outer portions are angled downwardly relative tothe middle portion.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising atleast partially closing the blank around the article group to form an atleast partially closed carton by raising the two outer portions of thethird support plate.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the rotating thethird support plate rotates the at least partially closed carton 90degrees.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising closing endflaps of the blank to form a closed carton, after the rotating the thirdsupport plate.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprisingdischarging the closed carton from the flight assembly.
 13. A method ofpackaging articles into a carton having main panels and end flaps,including the steps of placing a carton blank onto a conveyor that movesthe carton blank in a downstream direction, placing a group of articlesonto the carton blank, wrapping the main panels of the carton blankaround the group of articles to form a carton with an open end, rotatingthe carton while the conveyor moves the carton in the downstreamdirection, and closing the end flaps of the carton.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein the rotating the carton occurs by contacting thecarton from below the carton, and using the contact to rotate saidcarton.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the rotating the cartoncomprises engaging a cam follower attached to a flight assembly in a camtrack.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the flight assembly comprisesa first support plate, a second support plate downstream from the firstsupport plate, and a third support plate positioned between the firstsupport plate and the second support plate, the third support plateincludes the cam follower and the rotating the carton comprises rotatingthe third support plate relative to the first support plate and thesecond support plate.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the cam trackincludes a straight section and a diverging section that diverges fromthe straight section, during rotation of the third support plate, thecam follower travels through the diverging section.